IT'S not the welcome to Fife you'd want but the horrible stink from the sewage plant that hits as you cross the Forth could soon waft away.

The stench from the Dunfermline Wastewater Treatment Works can be so powerful that MSP Alex Rowley was only half-joking when he said drivers look at each other and say 'It wisnae me' as the nasty niff hits their nostrils.

It had been hoped the problem would have been addressed by now – Scottish Water said an odour control unit was needed with some "urgency" and planned to instal it a year ago – but work will now start next month at the site near Inverkeithing.

A spokesperson confirmed: “Scottish Water remains committed to investing in Dunfermline Wastewater Treatment Works.

"The work to install a new odour control unit for the sludge holding tanks is due to commence in May and will take around five months to complete.”

The pong has been an issue for years and planning permission for the works was granted by Fife Council back in October 2021.

At the time Scottish Water said work was scheduled to start in the Spring of 2022 and added: "The existing odour control unit within Dunfermline Wastewater Treatment Works is now redundant and is due to be replaced as a matter of urgency due to odour control issues escalated to environmental health, SEPA and the local councillors.

“As a result it is proposed to install a new unit adjacent to the sludge tanks to improve odour treatment at the site.”

The works are in St Margaret's Bay, just off the B981 between Inverkeithing and North Queensferry, and serve 82,000 people in Fife.

Covering an area of around 50 square metres, the odour control unit will connect to the existing sludge tanks and, it is hoped, will reduce the smell from the area.

In 2015 Mr Rowley complained about the pong from the sewage works and said: “It’s got the point where people in cars look at each other and say, ‘It wisnae me!’”

Calling for action, he had added: "People are very proud to be Fifers, and many pointed out that the first thing that hits you when you come over the bridge, depending on which way the wind blows, is this terrible stench."

Fife Council had identified the main sources of the stink, including sulphide and other smells from septic sludge, ammonia from the addition of lime to sludge cake, the transfer and storage of lime-treated sludge to open bays, the transfer of lime-treated sludge by diggers to lorries, and the movement of lime-treated sludge across and away from the site.

In 2017, ahead of the opening of the Queensferry Crossing, Scottish Water announced £2.2m of improvements at the treatment works, and a spokesperson told the Press: "We are constantly striving to manage the odours from our waste water sites and make sure there are plans in place to ensure any issues don't escalate."